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Pages tagged "Spirit"

Dielectric

Here is a strange simile: God is like the parallel plates of a capacitor, and we are the molecules of dielectric between them.

On Science (November 2022)

Everyday Prophets (Review)

Recently, I read the wonderful 2016 Backhouse Lecture, Everyday Prophets by Margery Post Abbott. I identified with Abbott’s description of everyday prophets as “. . . people who listen to the voice of all that it Holy and follow its guidance” (p. 3). Yet these everyday prophets face challenges, too. “It takes practice to develop the skill of listening with an inward ear and coming to recognize the taste and color of all that it holy . . . Above all, such a person is one who listens inwardly and has learned to distinguish the voice of the Spirit, the presence of Christ, from their own desires or self-will, the pressures of the surrounding culture and the need to win approval from those around them” (pp. 5-6).

On Home (September 2017)

Fresh

Dear Editor: In appreciation for the May/June theme, “On Limits,” and each writer’s thoughtful response, I offer fresh words penned by Naomi Shihab Nye, a poetic expression of limits. She gives you her permission to publish this poem.

On Heritage (July 2016)

God Came to Visit

Rick Ells is a member of University Meeting in Seattle, WA (NPYM).

On Captivity (January 2018)

Have You Been in “The Zone”?

Dear Friends:  After my article in Western Friend, “Quakers, Sport, and Being in the Zone” (July/August 2014) and a Western Friend video-conference on the same topic, I have two questions for Friends:

On Family (September 2014)

Holy Silence (review)

Brent Bill – a writer, photographer, and Quaker minister – considers silence to be “the Quaker sacrament.” In the first chapter of this small volume, Bill makes clear that holy silence “. . . is something we do, not something done to us. It is a participatory act. It engages our heart, mind, soul, and body in listening for the voice of the Beloved. Quaker silence is not passive.”

On Bosses (July 2018)